It was a twelve months filled with entertainment,love, support, developments and success for Jerome Kado, Fiji Institute of Accountants’ outgoing president.

Mr Kado handed over his presidency role toFinau Nagera at the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa on Yanuca Island, during the association’s annual convention.

She is the director audit at the Auditor-General’s office, and is the first iTaukei woman and second from the public sector to hold the post.

“It’s good to have members from public sectors and it is important to have a good mix of people in terms of going forward, so there’s a lot of work to be done,” Mr Kado says.

However, Mr Kado said a lot had happened in the 12 months of his leadership and with the backing and support of the council and the different committee of the institute, they had achieved quite a bit.

“Firstly, we have a legislative framework, and we’re working in conjunction withthe Government in submitting a lot of papers and havingmeetings with the Minister for Economy on business issues.”

He added the council had also met the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority on various occasions to try and get the rules right and to know how the law operated.

“We’ve also put together the new five-year strategic plan for the association from 2017 to 2021, again itis part of the structure and direction to a better future.”

Mr Kado emphasised the school development that the council had established, introducing the Year 13 award for outstanding accounting student.

“I think it is a good initiative by the council, because we’re rewarding students and also encouraging them to do well in accounting.”

Finance is one major tool for a successful business and every business and household require finance at most stages, he said.

“There’s a lot that has happened in the last 12 months,” he reflected.

Moreover, the two-day congress was a success.

“The feedbacks are positive and we are thankful for the success.”

Unavailability of the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimrama, was regretted but Mr Kado said: “We were lucky to have a line of speakers including the Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations to give us the voice of the Government because that was important to us.”

Mega Trends is a very serious issue and the awareness is important, because it will affect us whether we like it or not, he said.

“Now that we’ve broughtup some of the issues that is leading to the global trends and where we need to look at if we want to improvethe issue, what is left now is the people.”